


The Night We Met

by thejollymilano



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Don't copy to another site, F/M, Gen, Stamora, peter quill survives the snap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-22
Updated: 2019-03-22
Packaged: 2019-11-28 04:41:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18203669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thejollymilano/pseuds/thejollymilano
Summary: Slight AU where Peter Quill does not turn to dust. Instead, he’s faced with the aftermath of the snap and reflects on the short time he had with the Guardians and the woman he loved.





	The Night We Met

**Author's Note:**

> warnings: rated T for mentions of violence, swearing in a few scenes & dealing with trauma and grief post-Infinity War.
> 
> for all the post-iw broken hearts.
> 
> song: the night we met / lord huron

_I don't know what I'm supposed to do, haunted by the ghost of you_  
_Oh, take me back to the night we met ..._

* * *

 

Nothing was making sense. That much, Peter Quill understood.

The Legendary Outlaw slowly pivoted on his feet, eyes wide and senses alert for any sign of Thanos, or what he could be doing right at this very moment now that he had the Time Stone as well. A sudden chill rang through the air, and Peter felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle;  _something was very wrong._

“Something’s happening...” Mantis voiced his thoughts, her tone trembling. Seconds later, she was  _gone_.  _As if she was never there in the first place_. All that was left of his alien half-sister was a pile of dust.

Peter didn’t know what to think, had no idea how to feel -  _nothing was making any sense._ But his heart dropped as he realized slowly what just happened.  _Mantis and Gamora were dead._

“Quill?” He turned around when Drax’s confused voice sounded. Slowly, as if it were a dream, Drax’s hands were disintegrating. Bit by bit, he was turning to dust. It wasn’t until his dear friend was completely wiped from existence, that Peter stumbled. Everything was coming together.

They lost the fight.

He watched gravely as the kid who shared the same name as him slowly faded away, Tony cradling his protege in his arms. His heart ached as his mind raced to catch up. With another twist in his gut, Peter noted that the kid wasn’t alone when he died - he died being held by somebody who cared for him. Even Mantis and Drax had passed in each other’s company.

_Gamora had nobody._

Quill was still trembling with shock at what happened, tears burning his eyes yet; and yet he couldn’t still shake the feeling that the woman he loved, a strong woman who lived most of her life alone in her fear and heart ache, died utterly alone. Killed by the disgusting Titan that abused her.

As Tony hid his silent sobs behind his injured hands, Peter fell to his knees, leaning back on his heels. He didn’t cry, not yet; he was still trying to wrap his mind around how absurd this was. How utterly insane it was that the aliens he had come to know and love as his family turned to ash before his very eyes, how half of everything in existence was simply  _gone,_  how the woman he loved was coldly left to die at the hands of her abuser.

None of this made any sense.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. They were supposed to  _win;_  the heroes  _always win_ , that’s what he read about in comics on Earth - that’s how things were in the movies. That’s a simple idea he’s known for his entire life: the good always beat the bad.  _So why the hell couldn’t they win the one fight that determined the fate of the freakin’ universe?_

“We need to go,” Nebula spoke up suddenly, startling Tony and Quill, who wiped his eyes, not realizing he was crying. 

“Why?” Quill scoffed, bitterness and emptiness replacing the grief that was crippling his heart. “What’s the point? There’s nobody to save now, anyways.”

“ _We have to make him pay_ ,” Nebula spat, her voice cracking from her own heartache. “We have to fight back.”

“We need to get back to Earth,” Tony sniffed and rubbed his nose as he stood up. His eyes were red and slightly puffy as he spoke, his voice dripping with determination. “We need to assemble the Avengers and find a way to kick this overlarge purple oompaloompa on steroids in the ass.”

“ _How are you two ready to move on right now_?” Peter asked, shaking his head in disbelief. 

“Because that’s what the kid would want,” Tony snapped. “I couldn’t help the Brooklyn kid who looked up to me, but I know what he would want us to do. He would want us to find a way. Peter believes -  _believed_ in heroes, there’s no way I’m about to taint his memory by sulking in self pity when we could be spending our time figuring out a way to undo this fucking mess,” Tony swaggered on his feet, wincing from the pain as he waved his arms around furiously as he spoke. “That’s not what Peter Parker would want, and I bet that’s not what your friends would want, either. Or your girl, Gamora. What would she want you to do?”

Hearing their names out loud made him flinch, but Peter Quill hung his head as he pivoted in a circle, pinching the bridge between his eyes as he cursed under his breath. Because the truth was, the Guardians wouldn’t back down from a fight. They would want him to keep moving forward and kick ass. Hell, Gamora would kick his ass all the way to China Town if she found out he was considering backing down.

Peter sighed, “They would kill me for even thinking of running from a fight like this.”

“So, what are you gonna do?” Tony asked, his tone becoming slightly impatient and desperate because they were  _wasting time._  “Are you gonna join us?”

Peter kept his eyes shut tightly, and saw the faces of the ones he loved flash behind his eyes. His mom, his grandpa, Yondu, Kraglin, Mantis, Drax, Groot, Rocket,  _Gamora._ He imagined how they never backed down when things got tough, they powered through because they had each other. Even when they were facing Ronan and an infinity stone, or a crazed god, they fought their way through their trials side by side. He may be alone now, but he was going to honor them nonetheless. He was going to find that purple asshole and show him that he chose the  _wrong_ Guardian of the freaking Galaxy to piss off.

“Hell yeah, I’m in.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

_The constellations were shining brightly and beautiful colors were painted along the infinite canvas that space provided. It was a beautiful sight, but it was nothing compared to the intriguing woman beside him._

_Her green skin seemed to glow radiantly in the reflection of the bright, galactic lights, but her eyes that told a story of great sorrow sparkled when he made her smile over Footloose._

_He had seen many wondrous sights throughout his many years of travelling and working as a Ravager - but he swore, he never met someone as beautiful as she was. And it killed him to know that someone so generous went through so much trauma._

_As the music played loudly through the headphones that rested on her ears, and they slowly leaned in, Peter Quill felt something he had never felt before. He was uncontrollably attracted to this mysterious, intriguing woman - but this attraction wasn’t lust. No, this was simply something more. He wanted to tear down her walls and see her for who she really is - a kind, strong soul whose been hurt by the universe. Though they met earlier that day, it felt like he was truly meeting_ her  _for the first time in that moment. He was seeing Gamora as how kind and lovely she naturally is._

_When she snapped out of the trance they seemed to be in, Peter was left breathless._

_“That is_ not  _what is happening here!” He told her, and he had meant it. His flustered frustration only grew when he realized they had to get back to their mission, and that they were purely only working together to achieve a common goal. Nothing more. Right?_

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

“Star-Munch?”

Peter Quill gave a shaky laugh as he descended down the ship when they landed back on Earth. He was anxious the entire flight back to his home planet - it had been decades since he’s been back. He was curious to see how much it’s changed since 1982, especially after Thanos’ reign. Normally, he would be annoyed with Rocket’s teasing, but after everything that happened over the past few days, he felt relieved to see his friend again.

“Glad to see your humor’s still in tact,” He snorted as they embraced.

Rocket’s normally dark eyes that were filled with hope as he and Nebula descended down the ship, fell when Peter told him what happened on Titan. Quill felt sick when he found out that Groot hadn’t made it either. Rocket angrily kicked at dirt, while Peter ran his hand through his hair. Together with Nebula, they took a moment to let everything sink in as Tony was reunited with the Avengers.

“You ready to save the galaxy again?” Peter sighed when the reunion began to die down, and the heavy silence between them became too much.

Rocket scoffed, “Do we really have a choice?” He sighed, scratching his ear as if he was in deep thought. “Nah, we ain’t gonna save just the freakin’ galaxy this time.  _We’re going to save our family.”_

“And billions of other lives,” Nebula added.

“-them too. Well, let’s get started then, folks, it ain’t like we’ve got all the time in the world.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

He couldn’t stop trembling.

Whether it be from exhaustion or his state of shock, he didn’t know, but his knees felt weak as he shook. He watched as the Avengers’ loved ones were reformed from the ashes and livestock slowly returned. He couldn’t help the feeling of sheer relief when Drax, Mantis and Groot came back. He and Rocket embraced them wholeheartedly, not caring about keeping up appearances  _because they were back, their family was alive again._

But one thing wasn’t the same. Gamora had yet to come back. 

A cruel thought passed through his mind -  _what if she was never coming back?_ After all, she hadn’t died in the snap, Thanos had killed her. Peter shook his head, running his hands through his hair as he drowned out the voices of his friends who were chattering;  _things still weren’t making sense - this all still felt like a dream, a very, very bad dream. None of it felt right._

‘ _I should’ve done as she asked,’_ Peter mentally kicked himself. ‘ _I should have pulled the trigger before he killed her. She should have died out of love, not by someone who hurt her.’_

He paced back and forth, letting his thoughts run wild as the nagging voice in the back of his mind taunted him that she was dead; he was never going to see Gamora again. The thought made his stomach roll. 

“Quill?” Rocket’s voice sounded as their chatter died down. Peter kept his back to him, not daring to let anyone see the tears that were prickling his eyes. “There was nothing you could have done. Nothing  _any of us_ could’ve done. It ain’t your fault, Quill.”

Peter stopped pacing, but kept his back to them. He pinched the bridge between his eyes, his breathing jagged as he fought down the tears. Rocket’s words echoed in his head, blood pounding in his ears. Not for the first time in his life, the legendary outlaw felt defeated. 

“Quill?” Tony’s voice questioned this time.

He thought of the night they met, how the stars behind them illuminated her grace, how vowed to make her smile more because it lit up her face; he wished he could be taken back to that night. He wished he would have told her he loved her sooner, he wished he had never let her go, he wished he -

“What the  _hell_ is going on!?” Tony shouted and only then did Quill’s eyes snap open as he turned around, his self destructive thoughts interrupted as he looked to see the source of the sudden panic.

The orange soul stone they had collected, which was in Strange’s possession, was quivering as a bright glow illuminated from it. The light grew until it enveloped them, blinding their tired eyes. The ground beneath their feet rumbled, and Peter felt fear and anticipation build up inside of him at the thought that their fight wasn’t over - that they hadn’t won after all. 

However, when the light faded and the soul stone stopped glowing, they cautiously opened their eyes to see a figure struggling to stand up on shaky knees. 

They wore a tight leather coat of sorts, and their silhouette showed long dark hair. Peter heard Thor questioningly mutter his brothers name, only to realize that it was not another Asgardian, but rather a Guardian that was getting back on their feet.

“I-Is that -?” Nebula’s stuttering question fell short as they watched in disbelief as the fiery maroon haired woman stood up, her aching bones cracking.

“ _Gamora?”_ Peter called out, his voice barely above a whisper, yet it caught her attention. Her confused gaze settled on him, and her eyes stung with tears as memories came flooding into her mind. 

As she stood there on her shaky legs, bruises scattered across her arms and face and her hair a tangled mess, Peter Quill concluded that Gamora had never looked as radiant as she did in that moment.

“ _Oh, my god_ ,” He murmured as his feet began moving towards her. He started off at a slow pace, still unsure if this was  _really happening,_ but he quickly broke into a sprint that he didn’t care if this was all a dream because the woman he loves was standing there waiting for him,  _alive._  She gave a watery laugh before he swept her off her feet, spinning her around. When he placed her back on her feet, he kept his arms wrapped tightly around her, afraid that if he loosened his grip even a little bit, that he would lose her again. And he refused to let that happen.

“You’re alive,” He brokenly whispered into her hair. “You’re alive, you’re alive,” He repeated over and over again, not sure if he was trying to convince her or himself. 

“Peter,” Gamora said, tilting her head back to look into his watery eyes. “I lo-”

“I love you,” He interrupted. He needed to be the one to say it first this time, he needed her to know how much he loved her, because  _flark,_ he truly did. “I love you so much. I-I should have pulled the trigger sooner, I should have kept my promise. I’m so-”

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” it was her turn to interrupt him. “You did. You  _did_ keep your promise, Thanos was just one step ahead of us.”

He opened his mouth to say something more, when her eyes caught a figure behind them. “Nebula?” She gripped his shoulders in a silent demand, and he slowly loosened his grip so she could walk to her sister. Nebula stood rooted to her spot, her robotic face twisted in anguish. When Gamora enveloped her in a tight embrace, Nebula didn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around her. 

Peter watched the reunion, still wondering if this was all real when Tony walked up to him.

“So that’s Gamora?” He nodded his head to the green skinned alien, who was whispering words of comfort to her sister as they continued to hold onto one another. 

“The one and only,” a ghost of a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “ _God,_ please tell me this is actually happening and I’m not dreaming.”

“You tell me,” Tony smirked before he walked away. Peter watched him go, slightly confused before noticing why he left; Gamora was walking back to him after having let Nebula go.

Peter met her halfway, slinging his arm over her shoulder as they slowly strolled towards the rest of the group. He stopped in his tracks, looking down at her, his eyes filled with sorrow, exhaustion yet undeniably love. 

“What is it?” Gamora interrogated, gripping his hand that rested on her arm.

“I love you,” He told her sincerely. “More than anything.”

“I love you, too,” She smiled brightly, her heavy lidded eyes connecting with his.

As he bent his head and their lips met in a searing bliss, Peter thought that with Gamora back, things were starting to make a little more sense.

**_THE END._ **


End file.
